IDFC MF plans India’s first AI-driven fund

IDFC Mutual Fund will launch for its rich clients an equity fund that will extensively use artificial intelligence (AI) to select stocks for its portfolio, manage the same and also indicate exit opportunities.TNN | October 01, 2017, 08:56 IST

Although in advanced markets the use of AI in the financial space is growing at a fast clip, IDFC MF’s initiative is the first of its kind in the Indian fund management space.

According to IDFC MF CEO Vishal Kapoor, the fund — IDFC Neo Equity Portfolio — was launched about four months ago on a pilot basis, and the results have been encouraging.

However, he added that there is a fund manager who has the discretion to override the AI-driven signals and take the final call. “It’s not a pure quant- (quantitative method) driven portfolio management offering,” Kapoor said.

A research and advisory firm that works in the AI space, along with an R&D team from a reputed European university also in the same space, are advising IDFC MF on this fund. If this fund — aimed at rich investors with a minimum investment ticket size of Rs 1 crore — succeeds, IDFC MF may plan a similar scheme for retail investors as well and take that to the industry regulator Sebi for approval, Kapoor said.TNN

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